In our Pining For Pinterest posts, we prepare our readers for the upcoming season with interior shots alongside decor and event details in a fresh, new color story and overall look. Winter has already begun. The holidays are here … So many presents to wrap, pastries to bake, and parties to attend! Please enjoy as we take you through our inspiration for two totally different concepts that stay true to the essence of the Side by Side Design model of Interior Design and Event Planning going hand in hand. These events, whether casual or over-the-top, are meant to take place where you feel most at home. Get it?

Tami’s Pins: What’s “pin”spiring me this season? Wreaths, garland, and everything greenery! Crisp white backdrops are always in season, and you know I love me some touches of marble and shiny gold, but what really makes this year’s holiday decorations special are the more natural elements. This family sprung for fresh (live) strands of garland in unexpected ways and fresh flowers too. A casual brunch with family is a great place to exchange gifts and sip hot cocoa.

With this as your backdrop, you can really go any way you want with your holiday decor. Classic yet modern!

Gorgeous accessories are appreciated all year long.

Fresh flowers make a statement in this stunning setting complete with candlelight, stockings, and a warm fire to sit by.

This chandelier is beyond amazing! Guests will love looking up and around at all of the special party touches as they eat.

Menus printed on the chicest of paper prepare them for what is to come as well.

As this is a family at-home event, they are keeping it casual this year … Winter white!

A cup of cocoa is a great way to toast this holiday season.

This party host gets to make her own rules … She has personally picked out a special gift for each of her guests and wrapped them in style.

Lauren’s Pins: What’s “pin”spiring me this season? Setting the tone with color through lighting! Hosting at home but creating a look that is so festive and unique you almost forget where you are. Greeted into the space with bold colors (like fuchsia and indigo) is a great way to create a large impact through something so simple, and all the other decor elements come secondary but are special in their own right. I am picturing a very upscale New Year’s party for all the major players in the Hollywood Hills. Dressed to perfection, wined and dined, and ending the night with a private fireworks show.

This gorgeous home is bold all year long. Enhanced through lighting, it will take on a whole new vibe.

Another space in this amazing estate which gave us the color palette from which to work off of.

Uplighting in the perfect shade of fuchsia transforms this cocktail space into something nobody will forget …

… and changing colors as you move from room to room is just to die for!

The guests pull out all of the stops this New Years and dress in iridescent gowns that fit the theme.

Glitter and sparkle is what this time of year is all about.

A festive cocktail that screams New Years!

Not bad, huh?

This Winter is our busiest yet, and we are so excited to continue bringing the events “Side” of our business to the next level. We look forward to all that is coming up this season and hopefully using some of this inspiration in our own planning. We would love to work with you in creating the right look this Winter by tying in the inspiration of your event with the essence of your home decor. Contact us at info@sbsdesignla.com for more information.

To see more of our individual styles through our inspiration, follow us on Pinterest at:

Our newest series, Hosting at Home, is a place for us to share the creative touches we add to our space when hosting in our own homes as well as tips from us as event planners for how to pull off a similar look or type of event at home. These events are not fancy and super pre-planned like the ones you are used to seeing us do but rather casual and impromptu. The content of these particular blog posts is meant to inspire each of you to invite friends over for a last minute BBQ, to pull out dishes you haven’t used in a while, and to find those random accessories that help make your table look unique. Keep it causal! None of this is sponsored … It’s from the heart and straight to you from our very own homes. Enjoy!

Written by: Tami

This edition of Hosting at Home is one I know you will all be able to relate to right now as you are all most likely hosting and attending holiday parties of all kinds. Last year, I had the opportunity to host our annual family Chanukkah party (for one side of our extremely large family) in my home. What I love most about inviting guests over is getting the chance to try out new recipes and making my table and food presentation look “just so”! I usually get inspired by a theme, color scheme, or the menu itself and then the cooking and decorating take on a life of their own, but sometimes it is my space itself or my current decorations (depending on the holiday) that inspire me.

You may remember this gift wrap from last year’s T Side / L Side Holiday Wrapping post. The one thing I love to do most during the holidays is to come up with a look for the gifts that I give, wrap them with care, and see them all together coordinated nicely in the end. I do have a bit of a thing for coordination! I don’t stop there … The rest of my decor needs to match as well, and if I have people over during that time I like to add touches of the look I have created into my plan for that set up too. Some may think this sounds stressful, but for me having it all go together means I only have to think about one way of doing things for all creative aspects of my life that month or during that time of year.

As it was Chanukkah and Shabbat, Phil and I were able to use many of our beloved gifts we were given for our wedding including our new tree shaped menorah and this gorgeous wood and silver leaf challah plate. Silver chargers made our table look fancy, festive, and ready for the holidays.

These handmade pom poms made an appearance in my decor, atop many of the gifts I handed out last holiday season, and made for really cute napkin rings too! Here’s a tip: It’s always fun to think of other ways to use your decor.

As I mentioned, hosting is a great opportunity to try out new recipes. Last year, we were extremely ambitious and used my grandpa’s recipe to make delicious potato latkes. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, but we did spend a lot of time peeling potatoes, and I wouldn’t try this at home unless you have a really good food processor (which luckily I do!).

Our little space was packed full once we made the table big enough for all of our guests to sit, so I set our dinner up buffet style on my favorite West Elm cabinet. I had been looking for an excuse to use this dreidel tray and found it was the perfect place to put my homemade latkes accompanied by all our favorite toppings.

One part of the story I have failed to mention so far is that I was also pregnant last year at this time. In an effort to take a little pressure off of myself, I asked all of our guests to contribute a dish to our dinner and each did so graciously … Kale salad, roasted veggies, traditional Moroccan fish, and more! If you are as particular as me, you can be specific with what you want your guests to bring and place them in your own serving dishes once they arrive.

I did, however, get big time into baking last year in my pregnant state and sent each of my guests home with a special treat complete with tags that matched my decor.

When hosting in your home, do what feels most natural to you while trying to push yourself a little each time to think outside the box. Until next time … Happy Holidays and Happy Hosting from Side by Side Design!

We are so excited to once again share our monthly inspiration with all of you! Each month, we look forward to getting the chance to sit down and really think about what’s inspiring us, make predictions for the month ahead, and reflect on the past month. As usual, we have each selected a photo that represents our overall inspiration and have paired it with two interior shots and two events that coordinate with its color scheme and overall concept. In addition, we have provided you with our designer tips to keep you on trend for the month ahead.

Tami’s inspired: Although I do not consider myself very formal, I love to incorporate fancy dinner parties, decor, and attire into my life this time of year. As an event planner, I love making spaces beautiful and assisting my clients in hosting family and friends for the holidays too. This December brings formal occasions for me to both attend and assist in. I always look forward to my husband’s work holiday party as they pull out all of the stops and send us to the most fancy of restaurants LA has to offer. I am helping a client to plan a holiday party with a really formal yet fun theme (Old Hollywood Glam). I know I will never be able to pull off the look of this girl in my inspiration photo, but I also hope to glam it up a bit for New Years Eve … Mama really needs a night out!

What’s my designer tip this month? Do formal without the fuss! Just because something is fancy doesn’t mean it is not fun. One way to ensure you do this right is to add in a fun pattern like a bold black and white stripe. Your grand outdoor area will thank you! A black wall mixed with more traditional carpet and bedding will have the same effect. A personal touch will help your guests relate to your event space and make it just a little less proper. Last but not least, Christmas trees have a way of coming across as stiff and stuffy. If you cover them from head to toe in fabulous ornaments they will take on a life of their own.

Lauren’s inspired: This month I am truly embracing the holidays! In the first week, we’ve already had a 40th birthday party and five nights of Chanukkah celebrations. Tonight we will be celebrating at Scott’s company party, and it truly doesn’t slow down for the rest of the month. I know when it is all over I will be equally relieved and sad to see it end, but for now I am just taking one day at a time and enjoying each event along the way.

What’s my designer tip this month? Make yourself and your space festive with a pop of red! If you know me, you know that I wear a lot of black, white, and other neutral colors, but when I dress up for a special occasion I tend to rely on a fun berry colored lipstick to dress myself up that much more. When it comes to interiors, I am drawn to the same idea. This time of year, I think some red hues can go a long way. Plus adding in some gorgeous florals to your home or event space is always a good idea.

Here at Side by Side Design, we look forward to an exciting month full of holiday fun; gift wrap, decor, treats, fashion, and more. Don’t forget to check out our next Get Inspired post on January 4th for all new looks and inspiration!

In last year’s post, T Side / L Side: Holiday Wrapping, we invited you into our homes and continued to show you our own personal design styles. We each have our own “Side” or way of doing things, which makes us unique (even though we are twins). When we plan our gift wrap for the holidays and ways to decorate our spaces and make them festive, these distinct styles carry through. With Chanukkah having just started and Christmas just around the corner, we thought it would be fun to give you some last minute ideas for how to wrap and decorate for the holidays. We especially always like to think outside the (gift) box when planning our gift wrap (and use colors, patterns, and textures that are unexpected and fun). Here is what we have come up with for our own Chanukkah wrapping this year. Feel free to use this as inspiration in planning your own holiday gift wrap as well.

T Side: This year I am celebrating Chanukkah as a first time mom! I know my little girl won’t remember these eight festive nights, but I intend to make them special anyway and take as many pictures as I can to show her as she gets older. In her honor (and just because … Why not?), I went with pink as the color scheme for all of our decorations and gift wrap this year and threw in some pops of gold and rose gold to make it that much more fun!

Like I said, this year is all about Joie! Phil and I planned out some gifts that we thought she could appreciate (Let’s be real, I also bought her a few cute things to wear which is really more for me!) and set out Chanukkah books to read to her each night.

Fresh flowers always look great when decorating, and I kinda think my gifts look great too!

As we light the candles each night, we will teach our baby the traditions that have been passed down to us from our parents … Isn’t that what the holidays are really about?

L Side: I have a first this year too! First year in my new home, and I couldn’t be more excited to have been able to decorate a new space this holiday season. I wanted to fully embrace the style I am diligently working on bringing to life in my space (Modern Bohemian) and decided to go with a pretty simple black and white color scheme for my gift wrap to tie it all together. I used different patterns and textures like I did in my home to create interest and threw in just a few pops of pink to make my girls happy.

This is the current state of my living room. It is by no means finished (which is why it has not been shown yet here on the blog). We plan to get a new sofa, a coffee table, reupholster those ottomans in the back corner, hang artwork … You get the idea, it’s not done! I will say, adding some decorations for the holidays has been the most “finished” this room has felt as it truly has more life this time of year.

I am absolutely obsessed with this new piece of furniture we have added to our home, and what perfect timing as it is the perfect spot to house our menorah as we gather each night to light the candles.

Black and white and styled just right!

I mixed in a few accessories to give this area some bohemian flair. I plan to get a large fiddle leaf fig for this planter, but for now it’s a fun spot for extra blankets and presents.

As you can see, we each have our own style when it comes to wrapping and decorating for the holidays. In your own holiday decor, which “Side” do you relate to most? Leave us a comment below. Wishing all of our readers a wonderful holiday season from Side by Side Design!